


Valhalla?

by voretaq7



Category: Mad Max Series (Movies)
Genre: First Time, Happy Ending, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-12
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2020-01-12 07:51:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18442241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voretaq7/pseuds/voretaq7
Summary: By request of a friend, this will be a short (probably <10) chapter series giving Nux something of a happy ending after his sacrifice blocking the pass in Fury Road.There's no outline so chapter postings will be even more sporadic than my usual.





	1. Seatbelts.

The roaring war machine rolled on its side, flames streaking back from the hood over the windshield. Nux's hands slipped from the wheel and he felt his body twist and slam against the window frame before hot desert air and licking flames hit his skin. _These war machines should have belts to keep driver in their seat._ flashed through his mind, then blackness.

 _Cold._ Nux groaned, his parched lips parted with a sticky crackle and he opened his eyes to the dim night, a half moon hovering in the sky over him.  
"AHH!" he cried out at the pain stabbed through his leg as he rolled moved to stand. Instinctively moving to grab the painful limb the dull ache in his ribs suddenly became an equally hot knife in his side. He whimpered and lay on his side arms hugged across his scarred chest. "Couldn't die glorious." he coughed sadly. "Mediocre." Nux whispered as he closed his eyes and waited for death.

"Hey." a deep voice called and Nux felt the tip of a boot gently nudge his shoulder. "Alive?"

Nux's eyes opened and moved up the figure standing over him in the dim pre-dawn glow. Black boots covered with the red-gray desert sand, desert BDU pants darkened with that same dust, a belt and jacket with things hanging from it, two callused and dusty hands in black leather fingerless gloves, a tanned weather-lined face looking down at him with dark black hair cut ragged-short as if by a knife. _Savage. I die here._

"You alive?" The man asked again. Nux croaked out a dry sound and the man pulled something from his belt, crouching next to the injured warboy. Nux closed his eyes tightly waiting for the death stroke but felt something press to his lips, a hand gently lifting his head as water touched his dry lips.  
"Drink." The deep voice growled, and Nux gulped great mouthfulls of the water before choking and coughing. A pained yowl excaped his mouth as white fire exploded from his ribs.  
"Easy." The voice said. "You're hurt. Ribs broke. Maybe more."

"Leg." Nux's voice rasped. Coughing to clear his throat despite the pain he asked "You Organic?"

"Not sure what that is." The man said, examining Nux's good leg. He moved to the other, feeling it through Nux's pants and the warboy cried out.

"NO!" Nux kicked his good leg at the sudden stab of pain.

"Easy!" The man's hand held his good leg down until he stopped kicking, then both hands moved back to Nux's injured leg. Nux growled in pain but didn't kick again. "Broken." the man growled, standing up and walking toward one of the wrecked war machines.

Nux shouted at the man's receeding back "Hey! Savage! Kill me!" _Get me to Valhalla_. The man returned with bits of pipe, metal. and strapping chains. "Kill me savage." Nux asked, voice almost pleading, but the man crouched next to his leg and laid the pipes out. next to it. Nux let out an animal yell of pain as the man's rough hands moved his leg, wrapping chain and rope to secure it straight between the pipes.

"Bad part over." The man said gruffly. He shifted back to Nux's head and took the waterskin from his belt again, tiltng Nux's head up and pressing it to the warboy's lips. "Drink. Slow."  
A few gulps of precious water and Nux felt the waterskin moving away from his lips. He weakly grabbed at the man's wrist only to have his hand gently pulled off and laid on his chest. "Easy. Get sick." The deep voice was more gentle now.

Nux felt himself shifted onto a cold sheet of metal. _The hood of a war machine, he could feel the hollow from the supercharger._  
The makeshift metal stretcher rattled and shook under him as it dragged across the desert. Nux's pain and dehydration overcame him, head rolling to the side as his vision dimmed to black.


	2. Venator.

-Nux-

The first thing I noticed when I woke up is that I was inside. It was dark, with maybe a hint of red. Dusk, or maybe dawn.  
The second thing I noticed was the cloth wrapped tightly around my chest, squeezing me. I tugged at it, trying to get my fingers under the soft material to pull it off my body and hissed at the stabbing pain from my ribs.

"No!"

My hands were pulled away from the fabric firmly. Two strong hands in fingerless gloves pinning my wrists at my side, tank skin contrasting against ,y pale pink skin.  
_Pink skin. My war clay is gone!_

"Leave it alone." The voice from the desert growled, and my eyes followed the arms up to a tanned face and green eyes looking down at me. "It'll help your ribs heal right." the man said. I stopped struggling and the hands around my wrists let go.

I turned my head to see where I was and the sting from Larry and Barry stopped me fast. I reached for them and one of the hands was on my wrist again, pushing it away from my neck.

"Can't do much about those right now but try not to mess with 'em."

"Huh?" I touched my neck lightly to find a cloth there over the familiar lumps of my two mates.

"Mmh." The man grunted. "Cut them up some when you got thrown. Patched it up for now, need a doc to check ya out, maybe remove 'em."

I frowned, palm over the two lumps. "Organic Mechanic said he couldn't... wasn't worth doin' for a half-life."

The man's hand gently nudged mine away from the bandage again. "Don't touch, OK?" he said again, firmly.

I nodded and looked around, taking in the space. It wasn't a cave - some kind of war rig maybe? Metal walls - green, not rusty - and light coming from small windows, black gunk and metal strips holding them in the walls. Tanks and piping took up most of the space, cabinets on the walls and boxes with engine parts and rusty scrap strapped to the floor - I saw a bunch of parts that looked like they came from the war rig, spikes from buzzard buggies, a few I couldn't identify.  
I was laying on something soft and I felt around it with my hand - cloth under me and hard metal pipe frame holding it up - some kind of cot. All of my war clay was gone. I had my pants, but no boots, even the one bloodbag gave me was gone and I could feel the cool air on my feet. I flexed my toes a little - at least those still worked. Legs worked too but my right knee really hurt when I moved it and I rubbed my palm over it, feeling something wrapped around my knee under my pants.

"Wasn't broken." My eyes darted to the desert man - he was perched across from me on some kind of metal seat or table that folded down from the wall. Dusty brown boots, dark pants without the pockets like a warboy's had, lighter at the knees and near the waist, a webbed belt with tools and a canteen at his waist, and a scuffed up gray shirt with small tears in it. His face was scruffy like bloodbag's, hair a little longer and dark, and his eyes... Those bright green eyes watching me.  
"Think you dislocated your knee." he continued. "Braced it and wrapped it, but you probably can't walk on it for a while."

Where are we?" I asked, watching the desert man's face.

"Still in the desert, you're in my hauler." The desert man pushed aside a gray canvas curtain and I saw a driver's cab - definitely a war rig of some kind but the dashboard looked weird. Lots of buttons, different gauges, and two steering wheels? Also definitely dusk.  
"You got a name?" he asked

"Nux."

"Venator," the man said, "Call me Ven. So is there somewhere I should be taking you Nux? Where's home for you?"

I shook my head "No home. Not anymore. Wouldn't want me anyway." I felt a sting in my eyes and shut them tight "Mediocre. Not even worth coming back for." I banged the back of my shaved head against the taut canvas, willing the tears leaking from the corners of my eyes to stop. _Warboys don't cry!_

"Hey. Knock that off." Ven moved to the edge of the cot and pressed his palm on my head - warm leather and skin against my forehead holding my head to the canvas. "Don't undo all my hard work alright?""

I shook my head but let him stop me from hitting it further.The warm touch felt shiny. Gentle.  
"Gates of V-Valhalla closed to me." I sniffled, my breath hitching at a stab of pain from my ribs and I opened my eyes to find Ven crouched next to me, face level with mine.

"Valhalla? Like... the afterlife?" Ven shook his head, gloved hand lightly stroking over my head and cupping around behind it. "I don't think you need to worry about that for a long while."  
Ven's hand tilted head and helped me sit up. He pressed a metal cup to my scarred, parched lips. "Here," he said softly, "drink."

Aqua Cola - Water! Yeah I was thirsty. I sipped the liquid and spat it out in surprise. _Not water!_ I pulled away from the cup and my ribs hit the metal frame of my cot. A rusty grunt of pain escaped my throat and I cringed back waiting to be scolded for wasting precious water. Instead Ven's hand rested on the back of my head, steadying me. Gentle, not the slap or punch I expected.

"Shh, easy. Look here." He said, drinking from the cup when I opened my eyes. "See? It's ok." He held the cup out to me.

I took the cup and let the Ven help me sit up. I sniffed at the contents of the cup - It smelled funny, but he drank some... I flicked my eyes from the cup to the desert man and took a small sip. Warm, sweet, and... sharp? It burned my tongue a little, but not a hot burn. I ran my tongue around my mouth curiously.

Ven laughed "Enough with the faces kid, you can just drink it." and I gulped down more of the liquid. His hand stroked along the back of my head. "Slow." he growled.

"More?" I asked holding out the empty cup to him, but he shook his head no.

"Too much isn't good." Venator said softly. "Make ya sick." He opened a valve and poured water into the cup instead, handing it back to me. "You hungry?"

I nodded eagerly and watched Ven pull a roundish brown ball and a gray-white wheel out of a cabinet. "Here." He held them out to me and I took them, turning the brown ball in my hands. It was hard, and the wheel thing was softer like a flat tire. _Not a critter. What plant's seed is this?_

"Eat." Venator said, taking another ball and wheel from the cabinet. I watched him Break a chunk off his ball and wheel, popping them in his mouth and chewing on them.

My guts rumbled watching him. I didn't know when I'd eaten last but it was a long time! I copied the desert man and broke off a piece of mine and ate them.  
The outside of of the brown and white ball crunched between my teeth, and the soft white inside part mixed with the damp wheel stuff. It tasted good! Sweet and salty and like mother's milk but not. I broke off more pieces, shoveling them quickly into my mouth.

"Slow down." I realized Ven was eating his food slower than me. "Don't make yourself sick."

"'s Good." I said around the mouthful of food I was chewing. I held up the brown ball. "What is it?"

"Bread." Ven nodded at the rapidly shrinking wheel-thing in my lap That's cheese."

"Buh-red. You hunt it?"

"No."

"Grow? Never seen a bread before..." 

"You bake it. Good for travel, it's light and the cheese keeps well too."

I tilted my head squinting at the desert man. "Bake?"

"Cook." The man offered, and I nodded.  
"You've never had bread before?" - I shook my head, chewing and swallowing the last of my bread.  
"What do you eat?" Venator asked, leaning forward curiously.

"Crawlies, bugs, lizards," I yawned tiredly, "whatever we find." I could feel my eyes getting heavy. _Why am I so tired?_

Venator nodded. "Alright." he said softly, walking over he eased me on my back, brushing the back of his glove against my forehead. "Look, I gotta do another pass through those wrecks - might still be some good scav in there. After that..." My eyes darted open, finding his green stare, and his face softened. He sighed "...since there's nowhere else for you to go, you can come with me alright? Our doc can check you out at least."

I nodded, leaning into Venator's touch. The warm hand felt good on my skin. "Shine." I mumbled sleepily. "Real chrome of you." as the world faced away.


	3. Night Fevers.

-Nux-

A heavy blanket covered me from toes to chest, but I was still cold. Cold and sweating. I'd sweat through the bandages wrapped around my ribs, and my pants were damp inside too. I kicked the blanket off, groaning and wiping the sweat off my neck and shoulders. "Noh" I mumbled. "Not like this."

"Nux?" Ven asked from the floor next to me. He got up, pushing off a blanket he had wrapped around himself and kneeling next to my cot. "Are you alright?"

I shook my head, weakly trying to push myself up from the cot. _Stupid night fevers!_

I felt Ven's hand press to my forehead. "Damn," he whispered stroking his bare palm over my shaved head "you're cooked. Gotta cool you down." He gently pulled me into a sitting position and patted the bandage. "Sweat right through your bandage, huh? Here..." He slowly unwrapped the cloth from around my torso, working slowly so the movement didn't hurt too bad.

"Gonna get me." I mumbled, tilting to my side and falling back into the damp cot. The cool night air against my wet skin made me shiver. My teeth chattering together as a rusty whine escaped my throat.

Ven's hand moved to the button on my pants. "Shhhh. Nobody's gonna get you" he whispered. "You're sweating through these too, gonna take 'em off okay?" He opened my pants without waiting for an answer, gently pulling them off and folding them on the floor. A soft cloth dabbed at my chest and legs, gently mopping up the largest drops of sweat. "You're alright, just try to relax."

I shook my head, tears stinging at the corners of my eyes. My broken body wouldn't stop shaking. When warboys get this bad it wasn't even worth a bloodbag to try and save 'em. _You're already a corpse!_

I felt strong arms wrap around me, lifting me back into a sitting position. I pushed weakly at Venator's chest. _Just let me die!_

"Easy Nux." He started blotting the fresh sweat from my body. I felt him slowly trace the cloth along the edge of the engine carved and scarred into my chest and shuddered, leaning my back against the warm body behind me. I heard some valves moving and the sound of flowing water, then rummaging in a cabinet before a cup was pressed to my lips. "Drink this."

I swallowed a mouthful from the cup, wincing and coughing at the bitter taste. I tried to push the cup away but Ven held it to my lips again.

"Drink. I know it doesn't taste good but it'll help." he insisted.

I swallowed the rest of the liquid, and the two cups of fresh, clean water Ven offered me after, only spilling a little of it on myself from the shakes.

"I need to cool you down okay Nux? This ain't gonna be fun." I heard a sloshing noise then felt a soaked cloth slowly rubbing cold water over my back and sides. "Nhhhh!" - my weak whimper of protest sounded hollow, pathetic to my own ears.

"I know it's cold." Ven said softly, "It's gotta be cold, I'm sorry." he soothed as he wiped the sweat from my body with the cloth,. Every time the cloth would start to feel warm he would rinse it again, the cold water prickling my skin.  
I don't know how long he washed me like that, but at some point he sat next to me and let me lean against him, our chests together. My body had stopped shaking and I hung limply, arms around Ven's shoulders, face buried in the crook of his neck as he rubbed circles on my back with his palm.

"You want to lay back down?" Ven asked, voice barely a whisper in my ear.

I tightened my grip and shook my head. Being held like this was shiny. Different than when I'd huddle with the other warboys to stay warm in the citadel, 'n safer than with Capable on the war rig.

Soft lips brushed across the top of my head. "'You don't have to." Venator shifted, stretching out on the cot behind me and letting me rest against his chest. His warm breath ghosted against my ear" You okay like this?"

My good leg wrapped around his and I nodded, cheek pressed against his chest. "Feels shiny..." I mumbled, closing my eyes as sleep claimed me again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not abandoned, just delayed. The story of literally everything I write!
> 
> (There are 2 more chapters in various stages of completion but editing is a horrible task.)


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